While some can see Elimination of the first round series on Saturday at Denver Nuggets In check for the Los Angeles clippers, it was anything but.
Before the start of the season in October, the public was mainly released on the clippers, believing that the loss of Paul George, the additional decline of James Harden and the uncertainty of Kawhi Leonard would leave the team outside the season – the game included.
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Well, jokes about them, because the clippers spent the year developing one of the best defenses in the league, putting normal Powell in a role where he prospered as almost star, and for Harden? Well, he had a resurgence at 35, which radically helped the mowers to reverse the story.
That said, the Clippers could not have gone as far without the game of the Ivica Zubac center.
His 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds per game and his ability to anchor an elite defense were a major key to Los Angeles to extract the games, even those in which they were not supposed to be.
Having a center that could regularly score on the edge at one end and use your crushing crushing to stop the opposing players from the edge to the other without surprise turned out to be a major boon.
Despite the end, James Harden and the Clippers of Los Angeles have had a good season. (AP photo / David Zalubowski)
(Associated Press)
Of course, Leonard also presents here.
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No one really knew if he would play a lot this season, and no one knew what version of him would be on the ground.
It turns out that Leonard is exactly the same as what we remember. He is one of the most difficult players in the NBA, and one of the most precise and fundamental creators of shooting we have ever seen.
In the series against Denver, Leonard was once again a mid -range maestro, creating difficult shots from thin air and making them without the ball touching the rim.
For a player who has not been entirely healthy during the playoffs for years, his game recalled how good he is and why he should be considered in the highest level of the league elite players.
Here is what you need to know about the clippers before the offseason, while they are trying to rely on a successful season:
2024-25 Finish
Save: 50-32, fifth of the Western Conference. Lost against the Denver Nuggets in seven games in the first round.
Presentation of the season
On November 4 at home against the San Antonio Spurs, by coincidence a game covered by Yahoo Sports. The Spurs were up 40-14 after the first quarter, completely dominating both sides of the ground. The vast majority of the teams would have folded, but the Clippers have widened deeply and fell back, via a composed defense and an accent on the 3 points, to win 113-104. It has shown everyone that they had another equipment, and this is the moment when they forced the League to take them seriously.
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The feeling in the arena has changed during the game, of a guilty fan loudly: “The clippers are always the clippers!” In the middle of the first quarter, to this same man, leaving the row happily, he was sitting to ridicule him when they made the return, at one point, “I never thought to see that!” in absolute perplexity.
Players signed for next season
Kawhi Leonard
Norman Powell
Bogdan Bogdanovic
Ivica Zubac
Derrick Jones Jr.
Dunn crisis
Kobe Brown
Cam Christie
Key -free agents
James Harden (player option)
Nicolas Batum (player option)
Amir Coffey (UFA)
Ben Simmons (UFA)
Projected salary
$ 124,641,415 (planned salary ceiling of $ 154.6 million)
Draft choice
N ° 30 and 51
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Focus on the project: The mowers arrive up there at age, so it would not hurt to swing large on the highest guys left in the board, whatever the position. A choice of hiding place would not be the worst idea, because recruits are not likely to play a lot next season.
Even if Harden picks up his player option, the Clippers should have access to the full -complete Mle without a tax. The luxury tax should land at 187.9 million dollars, which means that there would also be options to bow a dismissal.
Needs and objectives
Admittedly, the clippers hope to be better next season, and to do this, it would be wise to find a guard that could constantly mark the dribbling and relieve pressure, without giving up the defensive intensity.
